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Tasteless
The year is 2020, life for Raul has lapsed into a mind melting monotony thanks to a global pandemic. A chronic headache and a bloody nose are just the beginning of what will be a very bad day.
- GenresHorror
9 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 9, 2022
1 person is currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Kyra R. Torres
11 books30 followersKyra R. Torres is a queer grief/horror/comedy writer, co-host of the Bubble Bath with Baph podcast and 1/2 of 3-B Publishing. You can find her in nothern California complaining about the weather, and drinking way too much iced coffee.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
February 10, 2022
Very cool!
A great short, well written, and what a surprising ending! Another fantastic piece penned by an excellent author. Highly recommended!
A great short, well written, and what a surprising ending! Another fantastic piece penned by an excellent author. Highly recommended!
February 13, 2022
A solid short story. It's very timely and a bit comical. I like the fact that the main horror in this is tailored towards my own fears and anxieties that I've felt during this pandemic. The ending was great and left me wanting more.
4.5/5
4.5/5
August 31, 2022
Kyra Torres wrote a solid pandemic horror story. “Tasteless” is a real life horror story that hits close to home for most of us. The story flowed effortlessly.
The story is written from Raul's perspective. In just nine pages, the reader is transported into his mind. Torres creates a character with familiar fears and hurdles the reader towards the end.
It seems like a straightforward pandemic horror story, and then Torres pulls the rug out from under the reader.
The story is written from Raul's perspective. In just nine pages, the reader is transported into his mind. Torres creates a character with familiar fears and hurdles the reader towards the end.
It seems like a straightforward pandemic horror story, and then Torres pulls the rug out from under the reader.
February 11, 2022
I'm never getting a Covid test!!!
Well ... After reading this...I think ill stay in my room
I admit the cover sold this for me but the story! Chef's kiss!
Well ... After reading this...I think ill stay in my room
I admit the cover sold this for me but the story! Chef's kiss!
February 10, 2022
Wow! You know a story is great when you’re upset it isn’t longer. I liked how I thought I knew where it was heading only for the twist to catch me by surprise. Truly a spooky tale worth expanding!
February 10, 2022
This short story has a whimsical tone that puts the reader inside the mind of a person that is experiencing what we all experienced in the not too distant past. Torres did a great job highlighting the monotony of life during the pandemic while giving it an unexpected spin that is sure to make your skin crawl.
June 19, 2022
A Post-Pandemic Scare
Kyra R. Torres is one of my favorite indie authors. I love her writing in her debut The Midnightmare Collection, and I felt her writing on here came through even more. Tasteless has humor, pandemic PTSD that I remember so well, and the ending was well executed. Check it out!
Kyra R. Torres is one of my favorite indie authors. I love her writing in her debut The Midnightmare Collection, and I felt her writing on here came through even more. Tasteless has humor, pandemic PTSD that I remember so well, and the ending was well executed. Check it out!
February 11, 2022
Top-notch Pandemic Horror!
This was one wild ride of a short story! You think you know what's happening to the protagonist when he wakes up feeling unwell but that ending will give you chills. Torres doesn't disappoint!
This was one wild ride of a short story! You think you know what's happening to the protagonist when he wakes up feeling unwell but that ending will give you chills. Torres doesn't disappoint!
February 12, 2022
A sharp and concise horror story. This story weaves together a strong narrative voice and dark comedy with a well-paced plot. Torres captures the monotony of the indoor life that we've all experienced the last several years. In an odd way, the final denouement mirrors our own grinding dread over the uncontrollable persistence of disease. Each line carries a clear and relatable image or familiar experience. In nine pages, we come to know a character in the mundane routines of his life as he hurtles towards something frightening.
February 10, 2022
Another great short from Kyra Torres. Kyra became a must read for me with The Midnightmare Collection, and this further proves why. Bleak and gross, but not without humor. I found myself smirking quite a bit at the off handed things the narrator says through out. K thx!
February 12, 2022
This is the best work I’ve read from Torres yet. At first I thought it was just going to be a horror story about losing taste, but it is more than that. There was a part that literally made me wince. This’ll one will get under your skin…and stay there
May 26, 2022
What a delightfully nasty little story! Loved it!
February 12, 2022
A New Covid-19 Symptom?
I wake up to the sun spilling its way through slightly cracked Venetian blinds, the early morning light flooding my bedroom with my head splitting in two, feeling like there’s a knife embedded in my skull,
COVID-19 has been running rampant and spreading all over the world for the last nine months. I wake up, watch a streaming app, wash my hands, scroll the internet, wash my hands, watch again, wash again, scroll again. Eventually I get comfortable with the idea of going out again and becoming used to the new ways of living. Six feet apart at all times, follow the grocery store aisle markers, sanitize and wear a mask.
I was out most of the night after going to bed early, my headache making its appearance yesterday evening, and when I wake up and look into the mirror there is blood.on my face. It's probably a sinus infection because my sense of smell seems to have altered.
Like any kind of virus, this new one comes with a set of symptoms that seem to change and expand every single day. A fever, cough, and shortness of breath are the big ones in the beginning. Then comes congestion, sore throat, headaches, body aches.
I drive for forty-five minutes up and down Rosecrans Avenue, keeping my eyes peeled for a rapid testing site while the sharp pain between my eyes grows worse with every mile. Until, finally, sitting on the corner of the sidewalk, just barely out of eyesight, there is the literal sign I’ve been waiting for. COVID-19 TESTING SITE RESULTS IN 15 MINUTES
As a nurse administers the test, I tilt my head back, the pain radiating again. squeeze my eyes shut as the swab enters my nose. A short while later, she tells me that the swab is stuck in my nose. While she runs for help, I yank the swab out of my nose. As it lands on the ground I am shocked by what attached itself to the swab.
I wake up to the sun spilling its way through slightly cracked Venetian blinds, the early morning light flooding my bedroom with my head splitting in two, feeling like there’s a knife embedded in my skull,
COVID-19 has been running rampant and spreading all over the world for the last nine months. I wake up, watch a streaming app, wash my hands, scroll the internet, wash my hands, watch again, wash again, scroll again. Eventually I get comfortable with the idea of going out again and becoming used to the new ways of living. Six feet apart at all times, follow the grocery store aisle markers, sanitize and wear a mask.
I was out most of the night after going to bed early, my headache making its appearance yesterday evening, and when I wake up and look into the mirror there is blood.on my face. It's probably a sinus infection because my sense of smell seems to have altered.
Like any kind of virus, this new one comes with a set of symptoms that seem to change and expand every single day. A fever, cough, and shortness of breath are the big ones in the beginning. Then comes congestion, sore throat, headaches, body aches.
I drive for forty-five minutes up and down Rosecrans Avenue, keeping my eyes peeled for a rapid testing site while the sharp pain between my eyes grows worse with every mile. Until, finally, sitting on the corner of the sidewalk, just barely out of eyesight, there is the literal sign I’ve been waiting for. COVID-19 TESTING SITE RESULTS IN 15 MINUTES
As a nurse administers the test, I tilt my head back, the pain radiating again. squeeze my eyes shut as the swab enters my nose. A short while later, she tells me that the swab is stuck in my nose. While she runs for help, I yank the swab out of my nose. As it lands on the ground I am shocked by what attached itself to the swab.
August 25, 2022
The last couple of years have brought changes we could have never imagined, and in Tasteless*, Kyra takes something that's already been scary for a lot of people and constructs something entirely different.
With this short story, she paints a picture we're all familiar with: shut away at home, the dreaded toilet paper shortages, and anxiety when symptoms developed - especially since it seemed like everything was a symptom that first year! Whether it was your stomach, your head, chest congestion, or a twitchy eye, it wasn't long until you were headed off to get tested. That miserable brain poke.
Best case scenario, a few seconds of discomfort is followed by the relief of hearing your test was negative. If it's worst case, then you find out the test is positive. Or... is there something even more terrifying than that just waiting to be discovered?
With this short story, she paints a picture we're all familiar with: shut away at home, the dreaded toilet paper shortages, and anxiety when symptoms developed - especially since it seemed like everything was a symptom that first year! Whether it was your stomach, your head, chest congestion, or a twitchy eye, it wasn't long until you were headed off to get tested. That miserable brain poke.
Best case scenario, a few seconds of discomfort is followed by the relief of hearing your test was negative. If it's worst case, then you find out the test is positive. Or... is there something even more terrifying than that just waiting to be discovered?
February 27, 2022
This is such a horrifying story, one that can make you feel ill after you finish reading it thanks to what happens towards the end, but in a good way. It's really fascinating to me how Kyra can write something memorable, messy, and incredible with an experience the majority of us had to live through thanks to the pandemic. Kyra is an amazing writer, and she really has a talent to shock you with her stories, and with just a few pages she can deliver a scary story that can change the way you look at tests. I really loved it
March 24, 2022
This is my third reading from Kyra R. Torres and I can say that she has constantly been finding ways to create horror in the everyday life of humans, which I find absolutely fun to read! Especially with the way things are in today's society, Tasteless adds another level of unsettling 'test results.' Another great job from Torres who continues to find her strong voice in Horror Fiction. Keep up the great work!
March 5, 2022
A short highlighting what most of us dealt with during Covid. The MC thinks they may have the virus. When they arrive at the testing site, we all get a shocking surprise. This was comical, anxiety filled, OCD-ish and a bit gross. For a short it was good, but I would have loved to see what the author did with this if it were longer.
February 10, 2022
Another great story from Kyra
A an amazing short story from Kyra, all of her stories are great, and this is up there as one of my favourites from her. It mixes emotions of humour and anxiety, then to top it off, it has an ending that will make your skin crawl. Fantastic work.
A an amazing short story from Kyra, all of her stories are great, and this is up there as one of my favourites from her. It mixes emotions of humour and anxiety, then to top it off, it has an ending that will make your skin crawl. Fantastic work.
February 27, 2022
Perfect story during the horrors of the pandemic and symptoms of covid. I'm sure we all had that fear of losing sense of smell and taste. I honestly thought this story could've gone further but it's still a great story overall. I enjoyed it a lot!
April 3, 2022
A Reminder
Not everything is as it seems and, sometimes, it’s hard to say whether what you fear is worse than reality. That’s the twist of Tasteless. A little comedy, a little blood and gore. A quick read.
Not everything is as it seems and, sometimes, it’s hard to say whether what you fear is worse than reality. That’s the twist of Tasteless. A little comedy, a little blood and gore. A quick read.
May 26, 2022
I’m squirming!!! I said WTF!
I went for my face than I said stop…don’t touch your face, haha!
Loved this short story….reality and added in suspense that had my squirming haha!
It stopped at page 8
Wasn’t sure if I missed a page
I went for my face than I said stop…don’t touch your face, haha!
Loved this short story….reality and added in suspense that had my squirming haha!
It stopped at page 8
Wasn’t sure if I missed a page
February 10, 2022
This was such a quick, fun, dark read and it makes me thankful that the quick COVID testing site I go to only does saliva testing
February 18, 2022
i'd really like to show this short story to someone 30 years from now
February 23, 2022
excellent short story with a satisfying twist.
September 12, 2022
This was fun and horrible at the same time. A real play on paranoia and fears. A brilliant read
May 16, 2022
A short gritty read! Torres took great attention to detail in this story, making you think one thing was going on...when it was so much worse than you could imagine. Amazing job!!!
Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews